The performance requirement of modern tires, beyond the qualities required for running conditions which are sometimes extreme, is increasingly directed towards the durability of the tire and the reduction in its rolling resistance.
It is known to a person skilled in the art that the improvement in the wear resistance may be reflected in an increase in the energy dissipation and that the progress achieved in recent years is the subject of compromise between these two performances, the limits of which it has been endeavoured to push back by modifying the rubber compositions and by exploring novel manufacturing methods.